Happenings February 2023

February 2023

Local Credit Union Gifts $10,000 toward Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Capital Campaign

Native Seeds of Fortitude

Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

How do you get kids to try new vegetables and fruits?

16th Annual Community Basketball Challenge

SPOTLIGHT: Second Chance Foods Helps To Combat Food Insecurity

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Local Credit Union Gifts $10,000 toward Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Capital Campaign

Hudson Valley Credit Union, with Putnam County branches in Brewster, Carmel and Mahopac recently awarded $10,000 to Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Capital Campaign. The Campaign which ramped up last year has a little over $100,000 left to raise to pay for their new building at Tilly Foster Farm in Brewster, which will eventually become their new headquarters. Executive Director, Stefanie Hubert shared “Cornell Cooperative Extension Putnam County received a great gift from Hudson Valley Credit Union, and we are honored to name our reception area on their behalf.”

If you are interested in making a donation or want to learn more about CCEPC’s Capital Campaign, give our office a call at 845-278-6738.We have many more naming opportunities left.

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Native Seeds of Fortitude

By Catherine Serreau-Thompson, Master Gardener Volunteer

If you are planning to add native plants to your garden, Winter Seed Sowing is a great way to do so. Not only is this process easy to do, but it also will save you time, effort, and money.

The idea behind winter sowing is that you sow the seeds outdoors in miniature "greenhouses" during the winter. The containers protect the seeds from animals and harsh weather and allow them to germinate naturally in the Spring.

The process mimics nature: your perennial plants have dropped their seeds onto the ground allowing the cold winter months to weather them so they can germinate and eventually grow into seedlings. In some cases, freezing temperatures help break the seed’s tough coat making germination a little easier.

So, why wait? Start winter seed sowing today and enjoy the numerous benefits it has to offer. Your garden (and wallet) will thank you! You can see the steps in the infographic presented with this article or learn event more by watching our recorded presentation

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Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

In August of 2022 the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law. For taxpayers looking to make home energy improvements, this means several things:

A tax credit of 30% of the cost of all eligible home improvements will be available.

There are annual limits to specific types of energy improvement efforts like:

• $150 for home energy audits
• $250 for any exterior door ($500 total for all exterior doors) that meet applicable Energy Star requirements
• $600 for exterior windows and skylights that meet Energy Star most efficient certification requirements
• $600 for other qualified energy property, including central air conditioners; electric panels and certain related equipment; natural gas, propane, or oil water heaters; oil furnaces; water boilers
• $2,000 for heat pump and heat pump water heaters; biomass stoves and boilers. This category of improvement is not limited by the $1,200 annual limit on total credits or the $600 limit on qualified energy property
• Roofing will no longer qualify.

To connect with qualified contractors and take advantage of potential financing support, speak with our energy advisor at 845-278-6738 extension 217.

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How do you get kids to try new vegetables and fruits?

Trying new foods is important to child development. With childhood and adult obesity at all-time highs, even in Putnam County, it’s more important than ever to bring a love of good food to our children. Most children actually like trying new things, as long as there is some relationship to something they already know. Adults share that trait. In fact, adults almost always learn something new by (a) comparing it to something they already know, and then (b) contrasting the differences between known and new.

So if your child seems reluctant to try new vegetables or fruits, make a family game out of it. Use the Taste Test Bingo chart below and cut out the symbols so you and the children can put their decision chips in the boxes below a selection of new foods. You can start out with a selection of vegetables you’d like to use in a salad. Then have each member of the family put a symbol on or under the name of the vegetable.

Veg	Red lettuce	Green lettuce	Red sweet pepper	Green sweet pepper	Yellow sweet pepper	Radish	Little Red Tomato	Big tomato slice
Symbol	Yum	Ok	Yum	Yum	Ick	Ick	Ok	Yum

Another effective way to get children to eat new foods is to offer them a way to grow their own choices. It’s easy to provide a bucket or a space in your garden for your children to grow some peas, carrots, string beans or zucchini. Once children have grown something of their own, they will almost certainly eat it!

Try a pizza garden

Open a space in your yard for a garden that will sprout the toppings for a pizza. You can make the garden a circle, like a pizza, and define the “slices” for each crop, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, basil, onions and whatever else you like on your pizza. Have fun, by making a picture of sausage or bacon near the garden – you won’t be growing that, of course.

Use a bucket or a box instead of a big garden space

Kids like working with spaces they can manage. Use a five-gallon bucket or a plastic storage tub. Punch some holes in the bottom for drainage and fill with a potting soil. Plant seeds or seedlings and your children will be able to farm their own “back 40” with ease, rather than trying to negotiate among your prized plantings.

Make sure to give your children ownership

Children learn by making mistakes (adults do, too).So be sure to involve them in all the phases of planting vegetables:

• What would you like to grow?
• Would you like a bucket garden or a box?
• Or would you like a space in the big garden?
• Help your child start a garden journal – pictures or words according to their age
• Help them start their journal by asking them to measure the size of their garden and drawing a picture, showing the measurements next to the picture
• Discuss what plants need to grow: sunlight, water, support, etc.
• Lead your children to decide on a schedule for garden chores
• Provide them with tools and plant ID markers so they can mark what they’ve planted

Ask for help

If you need help preparing a garden for your children, call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 845-278-6738 and ask for some idea on what to plant, when to plant, how to nurture, how to harvest. Check our website for classes in the spring that will feature answers to those questions – and more – to help you and your family get healthier by growing some of your own food.  For a PDF Copy, click HERE!

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16^th Annual Community Basketball Challenge

Want to help raise funds for Cornell Cooperative Extension, but not sure how to do so? We invite you to participate as a group or individual in the 16 ^th Annual Community Basketball Challenge. Tipoff is Saturday, February 25, 2023, 9:00am at the Carmel High School Gym. This will be the easiest fundraiser that you will ever participate in – all you need to do is get basketball shooters and /or donations to raise funds for Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Where and When

Save the Date and Instructions

Mightycause and Signup Information

Carmel Rotary Basketball Organization Signup

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Second Chance Foods Helps To Combat Food Insecurity

Second Chance Foods is a local hero (and emergency food provider) that utilizes donations from grocery stores and local farms to bring fresh, healthy, and nourishing foods to those in need. They have been a vital partner of Cornell Cooperative Extension Putnam County and our Putnam County Food Systems Coalition contributing to our work to create a more resilient local food system. Second Chance Foods has whipped up more than 1,000 meals (and 1,000 more to come!) for our Bountiful Meals program, getting free, delicious, frozen meals to seniors in Putnam County.

Alongside prepared meals, SCF supplies fresh groceries directly to those in need every week and through 16 regional food security organizations and food pantries. By using gleaned and donated groceries from local providers and farms such as SPACE on Ryder Farm and Fishkill Farms, Second Chance Foods cooked up more than 70,000 meals in 2022 for our neighbors facing food insecurity. What an incredible way to reduce food waste and provide nutritious and delicious food! Want to learn more? Click here. 

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Last updated January 27, 2023